Having sufficiently recuperated from my 4-5 month/ongoing health issues enough to write about the experience, I now feel duty-bound to keep churning out articles on other subjects that are of interest to me, and hopefully to you. So, this morning I turned to my list of potential topics in the hope that there would be something there that I would feel inspired to write about immediately.
And there it was! Something that I’ve been eager to do for at least a year now, downsizing from two cars to one. It has happened! But not in the way that I thought, or hoped, it might.
A Source of Ongoing “Discussion”
The Love-goddess and I had been having an ongoing “discussion” about when we might sell one of our two cars and try and get along with just one. The reason it had become a viable option is because we downsized our home, and now live right in the heart of the urban centre. We are within walking distance of many of the amenities that we use on a very regular basis; grocery stores, a library, our bank, a drugstore, and many, many bars and restaurants.
And, there is one other retail amenity really close by that I love bragging about to all my friends. We now live a four-minute walk away from the best LCBO in town! I have made a point of saying since we moved here that even when I’m forced to meander up there with my walker in later life it’ll probably still not take any more than 15 or 20 minutes to get there. Unfortunately, at some point in the very near future I’ll have to try out that timing estimation now that I am already saddled with a walker for what I hope will be a relatively short period of time.
I will not belabour the exact details of the “discussion” that had been ongoing for quite some time between the Love-goddess and myself. Just suffice it to say that I was very much in favour of letting go of a car, and the Love-goddess was generally not in support of it happening anytime soon.
It’s now a done deal in our family, but that shouldn’t prevent me from talking about a few issues related to the process. Hopefully, some of what I address may be of benefit to you. To that end, let’s look at some of the pros and cons of two people trying to get by with just one car.
Pros and Cons
You may have already thought this through yourself, so the points I’m about to raise may not seem entirely new to you. Why don’t we begin with the pros … since I think it is a great idea.
Pros
- Reduced ongoing expenses – insurance, maintenance, gasoline, car washes, etc. are eliminated for the second vehicle
- No need to replace the car – eliminates a major future capital expenditure during your retirement years that involves shelling out large amounts of money for a depreciating asset; this is generally not a great idea
- Retirement changes everything – if both of you are retired, i.e. neither of you is working, the biggest need for two cars is eliminated
- Eliminates need to juggle cars – especially if you have downsized to a home that only has a one car garage…like us 🙂
- More exercise – if you are the individual home without a car you will end up doing a lot more walking or biking when you are out running errands in the neighbourhood
- You are saving the environment – requires one less car to be built by your preferred car manufacturer when your current second car goes the way of the dinosaur; you are probably reducing your emissions, I say probably because you may not end up driving any less than if you still had two cars
- Promotes open communication – you need to do some pre-planning with your spouse/ partner around when each of you has a need for the car
- Makes you think about whether you really need to drive someplace or not – maybe you could walk or ride your bike
- Timesaver – it is a small thing, but having just one car eliminates the need to take the second car to the garage for repairs or maintenance, drive to a gas station to fill up, go through a car wash, etc., etc.
- Parking – frees up your driveway for guest parking if you have a single car garage.
Cons
- Scheduling conflicts – inevitably the two of you will need use of the car at the exact same time; this may require one of you to change your plans
- May need to arrange for alternate automobile transportation – this would probably be caused by scheduling conflicts identified above.
- You may need to join a car share program, if there is one in your area; or recognize the need to rent a second car from time to time and have figured out a way to do that quickly and efficiently
- Increased expenses for the single car – the two of you may end up driving nearly as much as you do with two cars; this will mean increased expenses for the one car
- You may end up imposing on friends – hopefully not, but you never know
- Forced increase in the use of public transportation – on the other hand it may not be forced; we moved to where we currently are because it adjoins the route of a new light rail transit system; we have been using it whenever possible
- Location of your residence may make it logistically impossible – if you live out in the country or in a suburb with limited amenities there’s a good chance that having just one car may not work for you
How Not to Do It
When I got the original thought about writing this post I assumed I would be writing about all the various steps involved in preparing a car for sale and the selling process we went through. I will be pointing out some of the necessary steps below, but that’s not how we/the Love-goddess did it.
The sale of our second car was undertaken while I was in an induced coma. I’m not entirely certain how it all unfolded, but, I think the Love-goddess just got tired of having to move the cars back and forth between the garage and the driveway. She claims that the reason was that she needed to contract someone to remove snow from the driveway, and having a car in the driveway at all times would be problematic. I guess we’ll never know. 🙂
Ultimately, the sale of our second car involved large quantities of alcohol. The Love-goddess, in her infinite wisdom, decided to have our son sell the car. And, she told him that he could keep all the money. Not the way I would’ve done it, but the car did get sold, so I am thrilled.
The sale of the vehicle proceeded as following. “The son” told various family members who were assembled in his backyard…this is where the alcohol part comes in…that he had been charged with selling our car.
He mentioned that he was selling the car “as is” for $1000. To provide a little background information, we are talking about a 2006 Subaru Forrester. The actual value of the car was probably somewhere between $3000 and $4000. A bidding war ensued. Technically, there was no bidding, just statements of willingness to purchase the vehicle.
“The brother-in-law” indicated that he would buy the car. Nephew “A” told his father that he too would like to buy the car. Nephew “B” texted “the mother-in-law” and told her about the car sale. She wanted to buy the car. In the end nephew “A” ended up with the car… for reasons that generally remain unclear to me. To be perfectly honest, I was not unhappy that the car sold for less than what it was worth because the car was gone and a family member got it.
How Downsizing to One Car Worked Out
Beats me! I can’t really say it that this is either working out well or poorly. I have been at home for the last six weeks recuperating from my illness. All of that is going very well, thank you for asking. But, I am not yet well enough physically to drive, and we’re in the midst of the COVID-19 lockdown, so nobody is really driving anywhere. That said, our car insurance premiums have dropped noticeably, so I guess I have to say that things are trending in the right direction. I will report back to you at some future date, probably a year from now, on how all of this worked out for us.
The Issues I Should Be Writing About
The following are the issues, that if I had been well, and was selling the car myself, that would’ve been front of mind.
- Understanding the legal requirements around selling a car.
- Getting a vehicle safety inspection.
- Figuring out a selling price
- Determining how to advertise the car for sale.
- Disposal of the old license plates.
The Provincial Guidelines
Fortunately, you don’t have to do a lot of worrying about or searching for information on how to sell a used car. Ontario lists pretty much everything you need to know about selling a car in the province on its website. I’m assuming all other provinces do the same.
Link to the Ontario information page:
https://www.ontario.ca/page/buy-or-sell-used-vehicle-ontario
Here are some of the points they raise. Be sure to visit the site yourself, and don’t simply rely on what I have replicated here. There is more important information listed there than what I have included.
“Before you sell a used vehicle, you need to:
- buy a Used Vehicle Information Package
- make sure that the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) on your vehicle matches the number on your permit (your green ownership document)
- check to ensure the vehicle has no money owing on it
Purchase a Used Vehicle Information Package
When you sell
When you sell your vehicle, you need to give the buyer:
- the Used Vehicle Information Package
- a signed Bill of Sale with your name, the buyer’s name and address, the date and purchase price
- a completed and signed Application for Transfer — this is found on the back of an ownership permit, under the vehicle portion
- a certificate that verifies the vehicle meets safety standards (if required)
- you will need to get this from a licensed mechanic
- look for a green and white sign with “Ontario Motor Vehicle Inspection Station” on it
You keep:
- your license plates (because plates travel with a driver, not a vehicle)
- the “plate portion” of your permit (ownership)
- you will need this if you want to register your plates on another vehicle
- you can also request a refund for any complete months left on your plate stickers”
How Did it Work Out For You
So, there you have it. Our little family drama in a nutshell. I am really looking forward to seeing how it all works out for us. To that end, I would love to hear from you if you are well into the living with one car life. Flip me an email if you like, or post a comment in the comments section below. Drive on!
